Pokemon: Of Light and Darkness - Scenario 2
by Drenden Shirotu
Summary: Ash and the group have seperated 5 years after Ash's victory in the Pokemon league. However, they will soon reunite when two new pokemon types arise seemingly out of nowhere. What will this mean for the world? PG-13 for violence and language R+R!
1. Control

Pokemon Of Light and Darkness: Scenario 2 - Revival  
  
This is a alternate universe to my orginal fanfic "Pokemon: Of Light and Darkness". I decided to start over on this fanfic instead of just  
  
continuing on the existing one for the following reasons...  
  
+ Plot seemed rather rushed at times.  
  
+ I feel that various events I wanted to include were missing.  
  
+ Other minor details.(i.e. Where the hell is Meowth?)  
  
This is a remake of a fanfic I wrote long ago in my PFFA days as Smiley13.  
  
If you want the (inferior and also incomplete) version, go to http://kev.mtrap.org/olad.  
  
Anyways, on with the show!  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
  
  
"Tell me. Does everyone hold tight to the anguish, deeper than Darkness?"  
  
  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
  
  
He was alone.  
  
He wasn't always alone however.  
  
He stood alone for four long years, four long wearisome years.  
  
Before that, he had friendship, that which he longs for now so dearly.  
  
  
  
He found himself walking along a dark road, he walked on and on with  
  
apparently no end in sight. However, he noticed that the further he went  
  
down the road, it got brighter and easier to see. He walked along the road until he saw a small house, this was his house, he slowly walked up the steps into the darkness that was inside.  
  
The house. Empty, barren, except for one small thing, a cake, white frosting with sixteen candles lined along the rim, he saw no joy within it, he knew that he should be experiencing joy, yet he did not. He saw only a cake, errily lighting the room. He bent over to blow out the candles. The little flame on the candles became larger. He blew on them again, it kept growing as he kept blowing on them. The fire latched on to his shirt, he simply closed his eyes, feeling the extreme heat of the flames...  
  
  
  
==================  
  
S c e n a r i o  
  
Chapter 1 - Control  
  
R e v i v a l  
  
==================  
  
6:45am.  
  
  
  
He awoke, upon awakening, his mind quietly whispering his name to re- establish his sense of identity.  
  
'Ash Ketchum, Ash Ketchum..'  
  
Ash saw himself in the mirror. He had changed somewhat over the past few years, his hair was basically the same, but he was much taller, his face had become rougher and more mature looking, his eyes showed a sort of sorrow in them. The world had become harsh on Ash, he had not expected what would happen, what would happen after the Pokemon League. The pain he had experienced.  
  
He succeeded, yes, he won, yes, but that just brought the loss of something greater, the friends that had accompanied him on his journey. They parted afterwards, journey done, no reason to continue on exploring. Ash met up with his friends frequently at first after the journey, but as time went on..there was less and less contact, they didn't even come to his birthday when he turned 16, due to Gym battles. Ash had other friends, but those two, Misty Waterflower and Brock Shale, were the only ones that truely meant anything to him.  
  
* * *  
  
7:00am  
  
"Damnit. Kill it now!" A captain of the Indigo National Guard ordered to the soldier via a walkie talkie.  
  
"Yes sir." The ING officer took out his weapon and aimed the firearm at a strange, child-like creature..it was dressed in a kimono-type garb, it's eyes rather large and it had an aura of light around it. The soldier fired his MP5 combat rifle at the child. The bullets simply stopped short of the creature's forehead as it started to sing a sweet song. The soldier dropped his weapon.  
  
"I said neutralize the target!" The walkie-talkie barked it's order.  
  
"The song...so soft..peaceful..." The officer simply said as he felt his legs becoming weak as his stance became uneasy and he started swaying, the song still playing softly.  
  
The captain simply sighed as he saw everything from above inside his helicopter. The bullets flew back to the to the ING officer below, killing him quickly with two shots to the head. The officer fell hard against the floor, meeting eternity.  
  
"Headquarters come in. This is Captain Lunarus reporting."  
  
"Yes, we copy."  
  
"We have another man down." The Captain said sadly.  
  
* * *  
  
8:00am  
  
Ash was in the living room, his mother making him breakfast. The TV in the living room had the news on.  
  
"Just an hour ago, the wreckage of various Indigo National Guard vehicles was found." The news-woman began "All official reports stated that they were tracking down a raging charizard on a nearby island that the police couldn't handle. The reports further state that while the ING was able to bring down and neutralize the charizard, most of the people sent out were killed in the process. The pokemon has been taken to ING's laboratories for further study." Ash turned off the TV and stood up to go eat his breakfast.  
  
* * *  
  
8:15am  
  
Light.  
  
Seeing the Light.  
  
Always seeing the Light.  
  
Standing silently.  
  
Walking softly.  
  
* * *  
  
8:18am  
  
Her eyes opened.  
  
They introduced the new morning that is now and the new afternoon that was yet to come. She stood up, the new morning used to be a thing of beauty to her. It still was, but it wasn't as splenderous and beautiful as before. She let her mind ignore the thought as she put on her clothes and stepped downstairs.  
  
* * *  
  
8:18am  
  
His eyes opened.  
  
They introduced the new morning that is now and the new afternoon that was yet to come. He stood up, the new morning used to be a thing of beauty to him. It still was, but it wasn't as splenderous and beautiful as before. He let his mind ignore the thought as he put on his clothes and stepped downstairs.  
  
* * *  
  
8:35am  
  
Upon finishing his breakfast, Ash went to his room and picked up the video phone. He quickly dialed a number.  
  
*ring*  
  
*ring*  
  
"Hello?" A face quickly appeared on screen, it was a young man of about 18, his skin was a dark tan and his hair was black and spikey, he was wearing some causal clothing: green shirt, and blue jeans.  
  
"Yes...Brock?" Ash could recognize his face, even after all the time that had passed.  
  
"Yes, I'm him, who's speaking?" Brock said in a tired tone, his eyes were actually open..but they had a very tired look to them.  
  
Ash stood at the screen stunned. Didn't Brock recognize him? Was it really that long since they've seen each other?  
  
"I'm Ash...Ash Ketchum." Ash said his full name just in case Brock couldn't remember him by just his first name.  
  
Brock stifled a yawn "...Oh! Yea, Ash Ketchum..", he let the name out as if he had never spoken it in all of his life. "Why did you call?", he asked.  
  
Ash suddenly realized he didn't know why he called. He had simply picked up the phone. It was like for the few moments it took for him to pick up the phone and dial the number, as if he wasn't even in his body, but rather, just looking at his own body controlled by some other force.  
  
"Erm..well...." Ash decided to say something spontaneous "Think you can meet me in Viridian Forest?" There a sudden silence as Brock stood thinking on- screen.  
  
"Sure! I'll even bring Misty along!" Brock said cheerfully.  
  
Ash smiled slightly. "Alright."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
* * *  
  
Not too long after, Ash left his house (After being told being hugged and kissed and "I love you"ed by his mother, it was a little ritual that happened anytime Ash left the house.), taking Pikachu out of his pokeball for the first time in a long while. The little rodent stifled a yawn and went wild upon seeing his owner again. Ash smiled at his long-time friend, but he was confused, he didn't even know what to say to his other long-time friends, after three long years of seperation...  
  
* * *  
  
Ash stood in the forest, Pikachu ran about, trying to find ways to occupy her attention while waiting for the others. Ash sat down upon a rock while waiting. He smiled at the memories of the far past..carefree days, times where one is young and lives only in the moment, but alas, those days gone, in their place where times of lonliness, sorrow, and yearning to return to that day which has passed.  
  
"Ano hi ni kaeritai." Ash repeated something he heard on TV once..it was some film, obviously in Japanese, which he saw when he was a young child. He didn't know what it meant then, he didn't know what it meant now, yet those words meant something to him, something important.  
  
"Ano hi ni kaeritai, Ano hi ni kaeritai, Ano hi ni kaeritai, Ano hi ni kaeritai..." He repeated softly, Pikachu looked on at her master, slowly bobbing her head to the near rhythmic patterns of her owner's words.  
  
"Hey Ash!" Two familar-sounding voices spoke behind Ash. Ash turned his head around to see two tall, young teens looking at him.  
  
One was a young man of about 18. He had quite a good tan apparently, he was wearing a green shirt with a brown vest, as well as some long blue jeans.  
  
'Brock Shale....' Ash's mind informed him on who this person was.  
  
The other one was a young woman of 17 or so. She was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt that had a very mild V-neck to it (certainly not deep enough to reveal any cleavage), it went quite nicely with her black shorts, reaching down to just above her knee, her hair was very long, tied up to a ponytail reaching her waist.  
  
'Misty Waterflower' Ash's mind whispered.  
  
"Hello guys." Ash said quietly through a somewhat forced smile. "Long time, no see!" Ash said in a more genuine voice.  
  
'Long time no see indeed..it may take years before one sees a total stranger' Ash's mind added in a cold tone.  
  
"Well come, let's go to my house!" Ash smiled again, and started to run towards Pallet.  
  
'I was always kind-hearted to strangers' Ash's mind snapped in it's cold tone once again.  
  
"Yeah!" Brock and Misty laughed and ran after the young 16 year old.  
  
'Strangers reunited." Ash's heart said in a warmer tone as the group ran to the gates of Pallet, which would now become much more..they would become a gate to a new era for the World...  
  
But what kind of era is unknown...  
  
..To be continued. 


	2. Force

Of Light and Darkness  
  
Scenario 2 - Revival  
  
Chapter 2: Force  
  
  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
"Ancient Cities blazin', Shadows keep attackin', little children cryin'.."  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
  
  
Midnight.  
  
The darkest hour of the day,  
  
Some fear it, others embrace it,  
  
All feel that it has some significance  
  
or meaning, whether if it is the coming of evil,  
  
or if it is to defy the orders of one's parents even,  
  
or if it is to the coming whatever Dark Lord one may worship..  
  
  
  
** Indigo National Guard(ING) Headquarters, Yesterday **  
  
0000 hours.  
  
Colonel Lawrence Solomon was standing next to the large window in his  
  
office. He had a rather large and old book in his hands. The man, who appeared that he was probably to retire from his service soon, come a year or two, looked through the book. It was very early in the morning, or late at night(the issue was debateable), but he needed to see this one event, for it could quite possibly be the beginning of something that could change the course of existence as one knew it.  
  
"So beautiful, the moonlight, making people believe that it is protecting them from the Darkness." The colonel said quietly to himself.  
  
Suddenly, a large thunder crash was heard, a black lightning bolt struck  
  
from the cloud-less sky. The landscape suddenly was black for an instant, the  
  
moonlight came back as soon as it went. Another one followed, this time the lightning brightened the landscape to the point of nearly blinding someone, it too left instantly. Solomon smiled and closed the book.  
  
"Ah good. So it's begun." He said as he turned around to leave for his bed.  
  
==================  
  
S c e n a r i o  
  
Chapter 2 - Force  
  
R e v i v a l  
  
==================  
  
  
  
0001 hours.  
  
Existence.  
  
What is this concept?  
  
I've heard of it before.  
  
But never quite understood it.  
  
Is...this the thing called Existence?  
  
I've been alive, I'm sure.  
  
But I've never existed before.  
  
Interesting.  
  
  
  
0500 hours.  
  
Solomon was back in his office, taking a sip of coffee. He was reading  
  
a book which was set upon his desk. The colonel flipped through each page, smiling. The writing of it was in some dead language that most likely only  
  
the best and brightest scholars knew about. Solomon smiled with glee, at  
  
coming upon a page, which he started to read aloud in it's native language.  
  
"Sun and Moon shall shine upon Earth..bringing a reign of death and  
  
suffering to her children.."  
  
"Poetry." he commented in his own tounge. "Pure poetry." Solomon smiled once again as he stood up and went to the phone.  
  
  
  
1300 hours.  
  
  
  
*Buzz* *Buzz*  
  
The intercom was buzzing Solomon to inform him of a message from his secratary. He quickly pressed a button so that the secretary's message would  
  
come through.  
  
"Yes?" Solomon said.  
  
"A Professor Michael Oak to see you sir." The voice of the secretary came  
  
through.  
  
"Send him right in, please."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
* * *  
  
Oak walked right into the Colonel's office, time had aged him well, his appearance wasn't much different, except for possibly an extra wrinkle or two. Much younger-looking than the Colonel's ghostly white hair and leathery hands in any circumstance.  
  
"Ah, here you are Professor, come in, have a seat." Solomon said pulling out  
  
the ancient book he was reading eariler.  
  
"You said you had something important to tell me about." Oak said calmly,  
  
eyeing the book on the desk.  
  
"Yes, about the Second Sign." Solomon saw Oak's expression become concerned.  
  
"..T-the Second Sign?" Oak's voice shook a bit.  
  
Solomon nodded, "Two down, Five to go.", he gently handed the book to Oak.  
  
"I know." Oak quickly flipped through the pages, each one a cryptic  
  
prophecy of sorts was written.  
  
"The First Sign --", Oak started to quote from the book also understanding the language, "..And when the mighty Pheonix flies over the one who will overcome, thus it will be annoucing the arrival of the Light's Savior."  
  
Solomon slowly took the book back, he turned the page, "'The Second Sign -- 'In the middle of night, where only Moon dares venture, a black ray of light shall descend from the heavens and strike the Earth, however, a white ray shall follow, seeking to destroy the Dark one, thus bringing a new age upon to her children..'"  
  
"So you saw the the rays of light?" Oak asked in a nervous tone.  
  
"Yes, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have called you in today.", Solomon  
  
grinned with his yellowing teeth, "I needed to tell someone else who studies  
  
the Prophecies..apparently you can handle your knowledge better than I." He  
  
smiled as he tugged on the skin of his left hand. "This knowledge has done  
  
wonders for my appearance at such a young age," He said rather in a rather sarcastic manner, "many mistake me for 70, no one even remotely suspects me being 37." Solomon heartily chuckled.  
  
"Appearances can be decieving, Colonel." Oak chuckled, abliet in a more nervous tone.  
  
"But we ramble on. So then...First it was that boy seeing the Houou fly over him, so is he the supposed 'Light's Savior'?" Solomon asked.  
  
"Apparently so, I denied him having seen that damn bird..I suppose because  
  
I don't want it to end this way..not with Apocalypse.."  
  
"All things have to end, people have to die someday..as much as we would like to believe..nothing is immortal."  
  
"True enough. Well..I suppose this a one way street now..we begin our descent into the End of the World."  
  
"Not quite..that one boy could very well save us all, however doubtful..the  
  
Prophecies don't speak of a Light Savior for nothing."  
  
Oak nodded, a look of worry in his eyes.  
  
"Well, I suppose we all pray for the best." he said with a uncertain tone.  
  
Solomon grinned again, "Yes. Indeed. Well, I suppose that is all I wanted to discuss with you, you are dismissed Mr. Oak."  
  
Oak stood up, saluted the general and left the office.  
  
'May God..or whatever Higher Force there is, have mercy on us all' he thought silently.  
  
  
  
  
  
1400 hours  
  
*Pow*  
  
*Pow*  
  
*Pow*  
  
*Pow*  
  
*Pow*  
  
*Pow*  
  
"6 bullseyes." A young soldier put down the gun. He had short brown hair, blue and white uniform, and was wearing the earmuffs usually worn when on the target practice fields.  
  
"Whoa, shit, where'd you get that kind of aim?" a passing soldier commented  
  
on his fellow's dead-on handling of the firearm.  
  
"What can I say? It's a gift."  
  
"Keep it up and soon you'll make the Captain jealous!"  
  
"Yea, I guess." The earmuffed soldier replaced the target and reloaded his gun, raising it again to fire.  
  
  
  
  
  
1405 hours  
  
Darkness.  
  
A blinder of many.  
  
However some will not be blinded.  
  
They will still see.  
  
They will ensure that all will see.  
  
  
  
  
  
1406 hours  
  
"Thus, Prophecies will be fufilled, and the world will be shaken, most likely destroyed," Solomon was again mumbling to himself, "this will be a most interesting experience."  
  
The sun shone quite brightly through the windows, quickly followed by a cloud, covering the bright light.  
  
"Very interesting indeed."  
  
  
  
  
  
1700 hours  
  
"Thus, the First and Second Signs have occured." Oak looked outside at the afternoon sky, the sky turning a shade of pink, "I suppose we're on our way down to Hell now."  
  
The sun began to set.  
  
  
  
  
  
1750 hours  
  
"I heard the Captain was told by Solomon that we'll be dispatched  
  
tommorow."  
  
"Really? Wonder why."  
  
"Yea, so do I, but we're soldiers, not commanders."  
  
"I guess, suppose we'll both seeing what's all the fuss is about."  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"Hey, that was a pretty mean aim you had there at the firing range."  
  
"You said that earlier."  
  
"True, but still..."  
  
"Quit admiring -my- aim and shape up on yours."  
  
  
  
1810 hours  
  
"Damned Prophecies, either they'll lead us on some godamned wild goose chase, or to the deaths of us all." Captain Lunarus was standing in the hangar, seeing all the magnificent machines of war, all in clean rows lined up against the walls.  
  
"Dammit all." Lunarus said quietly as he left, spitting on the ground.  
  
  
  
2100 hours  
  
"Are you absolutely sure that the Prophecies are to be fufilled this year?" Lunarus asked his superior.  
  
"Yes, I am certain. Brace yourself." Solomon responded calmly.  
  
"What makes you so certain?"  
  
"The Book of Prophecies. It says that 'In the middle of night, where only Moon dares venture, a black ray of light shall descend from the heavens and strike the Earth, thus bringing a new dark age upon the her children.'"  
  
"Now you're going to tell me you saw this 'black light'?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You're seeing things, you're too old for your own..*oof*" Lunarus was knocked down with a single push.  
  
"Don't mock me on matters which you are unfamilar with." Solomon said sternly as Lunarus slowly got back up, straightening out his uniform.  
  
"S-Sorry, sir." Lunarus immediately recovered his normal expression.  
  
"Tommorow, you'll see that I'm not just a crazy fool."  
  
Lunarus just smirked.  
  
"You are dismissed, Captain."  
  
  
  
0000 hours  
  
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little star."  
  
"How I wonder what you are."  
  
"A little light shining in dark skies."  
  
"Always flying up so high."  
  
"A blessed savior to us all."  
  
"Or maybe a devil to have everything fall."  
  
"A wonderful shining hope in my dreams."  
  
"or a scary darkness beyond my screams."  
  
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little star."  
  
"How I wonder what you are."  
  
Ash laid his head on his pillow and drifted into an uneasy slumber.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Solomon's head jerked up quickly from his bed.  
  
"He's learning." The Colonel smiled to himself and stood up to look outside the window.  
  
"I suppose I'll have to play my part in this and send out the troops later this morning."  
  
"I'm sure the Captain will be more than willing to try to go against Prophecy, so it all falls into place."  
  
  
  
0600 hours  
  
"Damn early wake-up hours." An ING officer complained as he started to arm himself.  
  
"Nothing ya can do to change that." Another said, tying the laces of his boots.  
  
"Do you even know what the hell we're going to do?"  
  
"No, not a clue."  
  
  
  
0700 hours  
  
"Damnit. Kill it now!" Lunarus ordered one of his officers via radio.  
  
"Yes sir." An ING officer took out his MP5 combat rifle and aimed it at the strange, child-like creature, it was dressed in a kimono-type garb, it's eyes rather large, a diamond shaped like an eight-pointed sun on it's forehead and it had an aura of light around it.  
  
'This is what we're ordered to neutralize?' The officer thought.  
  
The officer fired his combat rifle at the child. The bullets were flying out of the weapon at a blindingly fast pace, but the officer held it steady on it's mark as he continued firing.  
  
'Still got it.' The officer thought proudly, remembering the compliments given on his aim.  
  
However, the bullets simply stopped short of the creature's forehead as it started to sing a sweet song. The soldier dropped his weapon.  
  
"I said neutralize the target!", Lunarus barked his order via the radio.  
  
"The song...so soft..peaceful...", The officer said in a sleepy voice as he felt his legs becoming weak as his stance became uneasy and he started swaying, the song still playing softly.  
  
'It will end quick. Fear not.' The thought surged through the officer's head, though it was not his own.  
  
The bullets quickly began to fly back toward their deliverer. The bullets immediately penetrated the officer's forehead, he didn't have the time to scream as he hit the ground hard.  
  
'You didn't have to interfere.' The officer's last thought would haunt him for the last moments of his life, not just because it was true, but because it wasn't even his own.  
  
Lunarus saw everything, he couldn't believe his eyes. The bullets had been deflected back to the one who fired them. He quietly sighed sadly.  
  
'Damn lunatic.' Lunarus was still denying Solomon. He decided to communicate to his superiors.  
  
"Headquarters come in. This is Captain Lunarus reporting."  
  
"Yes, we copy."  
  
"We have another man down." The Captain said sadly.  
  
Several more officers were dispatched, armed with weapons varying from combat rifles to grenade launchers. They didn't stand a chance as their weapons were either deflected, or simply had their effects be futile. As gunfire was flawlessly deflected with deadly results, the same haunting thought was transmitted to them from the child-like being seconds before their deaths: 'You didn't have to interfere.' The child suddenly saw the helicopter above, and sent it a simple message.  
  
'Don't interefere further.' Lunarus thought, suddenly wondering where the thought came from.  
  
"Maybe I'm going crazy, but in my insanity, there is reason." Lunarus muttered to himself as he and his group pulled out.  
  
  
  
0800 hours  
  
Televisions across the nation were lit up with the same basic news announcement: "Just an hour ago, the wreckage of various Indigo National Guard vehicles was found. All official reports stated that they were tracking down a raging charizard on a nearby island that the police couldn't handle. The reports further state that while the ING was able to bring down and neutralize the charizard, most of the people sent out were killed in the process. The pokemon has been taken to ING's laboratories for further study."  
  
  
  
0900 hours  
  
"Believe me now, Lunarus?" Solomon said with a smile.  
  
"I still think you're full of it." Lunarus replied curtly.  
  
"Well then, see if you'll want to say that again tommorow."  
  
"Tommorow?"  
  
"Yes. I think we shall see one of the soldiers of Moon."  
  
"You're insane."  
  
"Perhaps I am, but it won't matter soon enough."  
  
"So, how are you going to cover this one up?" Lunarus changed the subject quickly and asked curiously, deciding to play along.  
  
"Simple. I've already told the media that ING tried neutralizing a renagade Charizard."  
  
"You work fast." Lunarus said with a bit of a sneer in his voice.  
  
"There will be more work to do tommorow, our final act is beginning." Solomon said warily.  
  
* * 24 hours later * *  
  
  
  
0900 hours  
  
"We have the target in sight." An ING officer looked down at another bizarre creature, this time a darkly colored being, with large batlike wings, a remotely humanoid figure with mostly reptilian features.  
  
"You know the orders the Captain gave us!"  
  
"Blast the shit out of it, got it."  
  
The ING helicopter fired two missles at the creature. The missles went on with their descent, exploding on impact only to completely fail in their intention.  
  
The creature was still standing, nearly unscathed.  
  
"Dammit! What should we do?"  
  
"Follow orders and keep firing!"  
  
Missles, bullets started scorching the grassy landscape. The creature was partially injured now, but retaliated.  
  
A large blast of black fire came out of the beast's mouth.  
  
"Holy..." The ING officer never did finish his sentence, he and his helicopter were instantly frozen in ice and made their descent downward, cracking like an egg.  
  
As the creature looked on pleased at his victory, he was struck in the back by various forms of ammunition. He roared in pain as he finally collapsed.  
  
"Sir, we have neutralized the target."  
  
  
  
905 hours  
  
"Hmm, they've done it. Very well." Solomon smiled upon hearing the report. He quickly went to pick up the phone and dial up Professor Oak, but he hesitated. Something told him that he shouldn't.  
  
'He'll figure it out on his own. Don't worry.' Solomon was unnerved quickly by the transmitted thought before getting back his bearings.  
  
"Very well then. Shall it start?" Solomon said to nothing visible in the room.  
  
'Yes. The captured soldier your officers are bringing can't be allowed to survive.'  
  
"Understood, I've been ready for this for a long time."  
  
'Any last requests?'  
  
"End our lives quickly."  
  
'I'll see what I can do.'  
  
  
  
1100 hours  
  
It's presence.  
  
I feel it.  
  
It lives.  
  
  
  
1200 hours  
  
"The same one?! Shit!" Lunarus looked on in the surrivaliance cameras at the small childlike creature his group had encountered from the day before.  
  
"There's nothing you can do," Solomon said grimly, "The Prophecies..."  
  
"You and your goddamn 'Prophecies'!"  
  
Solomon simply smirked, "Stubborn one, aren't you?"  
  
"I'm not a superstitious man."  
  
"That's because you believe anything you don't see is non-existant. You'll see soon enough, as will I." Solomon smiled and closed his eyes, making himself look like a kindly old man for an instant.  
  
"Don't give me that bullshit." Lunarus snapped.  
  
"You want evidence of this so-called 'bullshit' of mine? Look to the beast that your men just brought in. That's the Prophecies slowly coming to be."  
  
Lunarus simply snorted.  
  
'Crazy old fart.' He thought.  
  
  
  
1225 hours  
  
It's close.  
  
To destroy it.  
  
It can't be allowed to be.  
  
Many must die to save many more.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"What can you find out about this?" An ING scientist asked his colleague.  
  
"Well, from what is obvious, it seems to be an evolution of the Charizard, but it appears to be something far more..."  
  
The scientist and his colleague were standing in front of a giant body, it was the creature that the ING has 'neutralized' eariler.  
  
"Continue on."  
  
"Well, it's DNA structure is slightly different..and also.." The colleague knocked on the skin, with a slight "clang" sounding, "It seems to have much harder scales than an average Charizard."  
  
"Have you discovered anything about the 'cold fire' reported by the soldiers?"  
  
"Not at all, sir."  
  
"I see.."  
  
The scientist thought he saw the 'Charizard' stir..but quickly dismissed it as his eyes playing tricks on him.  
  
  
  
1240 hours.  
  
  
  
It's here.  
  
Solomon, I'll fufill your request  
  
All others, I'm sorry.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
A loud yet beautiful song started to be heard throughout the entire ING compound.  
  
'Niiii tann...tannnn niii...niii tannn..nii tannn..' It was almost like a hypnotic chant.  
  
The ground trembled.  
  
* * *  
  
"Here comes our time, Lunarus, call whichever loved ones you have." Solomon looked sternly at Lunarus.  
  
"Not...prophecy...it's not..." Lunarus said weakly as he looked teary-eyed outside..seeing the small child singing gently, no doubt what was causing the ceiling light to swing.  
  
"Oh, but it is. Your foolishness brought this to you. You are aware of that, aren't you?" Solomon grinned slyly.  
  
The song continued, the ceiling was starting to crack.  
  
"It was you, God damn it!" Lunarus yelled at Solomon, not only because of his fury, but because the song had grown deafeningly loud.  
  
Solomon once again smiled, "You're dismissed Captain. I'll make a note to the media to blame this on some random terrorist attack."  
  
Lunarus cursed under his breath and walked to the door, but before he left, he turned around and said, "Prophecy or not, this is some bizarre shit the world's going to see, isn't it?"  
  
"The world, yes, we, however, have done all there is to our part in this." Solomon grinned again. "You're dismissed from all duty, as am I, do not, I repeat, do not even try to interfere in this, you'll just be wasting time better spent repenting for your sins."  
  
"Just answer me one last question."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Just how old are you? 200? 300?" Lunarus was ready for just about anything to pop up.  
  
"Thirty-seven. You are dismissed." Solomon said plainly.  
  
"Y-yes sir." Lunarus left the room, not quite expecting that.  
  
The song continued gently as the windows broke, slicing across Solomon's cheeks and tearing his uniform. The ceiling soon followed and started collapsing.  
  
"And so, it begins." Solomon smiled calmly as he his surroundings literally crumbled before his eyes.  
  
'You're dying for the greater good.' A transmitted thought, no doubt sent to everyone from the creature.  
  
"Nothing is immortal...indeed." Solomon felt the rubble fall on top of him, bringing a quick end to his life.  
  
  
  
1:40 pm  
  
It's presence.  
  
It's gone.  
  
But many more yet remain.  
  
  
  
1:41 pm  
  
"So, how's it been all this time?" Brock smiled happily towards Ash, offering him a riceball as well.  
  
"It's been good, I guess, if not incredibly slow, just occassional gym battles." He accepted the riceball and slowly began to eat it.  
  
"Same here." Misty and Brock said at the same time.  
  
Ash felt a bizarre sensation course through his brain, various images zooming across his mind's eye, including the Houou, a bright shining light, a black hooded man and a bright blue sky.  
  
"Times..." Ash said in a tranced voice, "The times...will...change..day  
  
..night ..battle lines.."  
  
The others looked oddly at him.  
  
"A-Ash?" Misty shook him by the shoulders. Ash went out of his trance.  
  
"What? What happened?"  
  
"You were saying some strange stuff.." Brock looked worried.  
  
"Like what..?" Ash looked confused.  
  
"Something about times changing, day and night and battle lines.." Misty informed her friend.  
  
"Odd...." Ash murmured.  
  
'Great..now I'm going crazy, great way to start a reunion with strangers.'  
  
"Well come on! Let's go to Pewter City!" Brock got up and started running, signaling the others to follow.  
  
"Hey, wait for us!" Misty and Ash ran simultaneously after Brock.  
  
'Times are changing at least..' Ash thought, brightening up a bit.  
  
  
  
To be continued...  
  
--------  
  
Well, that wraps up another chapter, please review!  
  
And yes, that opening quote was gotten from Sonic Adventure ^_^; 


	3. Bonds

Of Light and Darkness  
  
Scenario 2 - Revival  
  
  
  
Chapter 3: Bonds  
  
  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"Now that we've grown up together, they're afraid of what they see."  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
  
  
Friendship.  
  
What exactly is it?  
  
The union between two people from a common interest?  
  
The simplicity of communication between two people?  
  
The ideal of being with one another no matter what the cost?  
  
That sounds like another concept entirely...  
  
  
  
  
  
Ash, Misty and Brock had just arrived at Pewter City sometime in the evening. The trio had reunited again two days ago, the journey wasn't too demanding on the trio and was in fact almost uneventful. They remembered the times long past, seeming to be almost as if they occured a thousand years ago.  
  
"The place hasn't changed much." Ash noted curiously, expecting it to have grown much more seeing how Pallet had changed from a small nowhere town, known only for Professor Oak to a towering city, known for so much more afterwards.  
  
"Mmm-hmm." Brock nodded. "Yea, surprised, aren't ya?"  
  
"Uhh, Brock, how've your brothers and sisters been anyways?" Misty asked curiously.  
  
"Well, they've grown quite a bit and help me out every now and then at the Gym, and I got them assisting me at my breeding shop, it's made life easier for me on most accounts."  
  
"Well, shouldn't we go in now?" Misty motioned the others into the city, with a elegant turn that sent her long pony tail in a clean, smooth swish. The others followed without a second thought.  
  
  
  
=================  
  
S c e n a r i o  
  
Chapter 3 - Bonds  
  
R e v i v a l  
  
=================  
  
  
  
Where's he?  
  
The One?  
  
I sense him.  
  
Maybe I'm just imagining things.  
  
But it feels...  
  
* * *  
  
The trees danced gently with the wind, with the sun as their spotlight, the green leaves followed the winds steps precisely. Meanwhile the clouds sailed slowly yet surely across the heavens, quietly observing the ground below them.  
  
* * *  
  
"Light.." Ash looked up to sky.  
  
"Ash?" Misty looked at him quizically.  
  
"Nothing. Come on, let's go on." Ash continued following Brock's lead.  
  
Misty nodded and followed as well.  
  
* * *  
  
A simple-looking building made of stone stood before the group. It looked simple enough with a large stone doorway as a large sign reading simply "Pewter City Gym".  
  
"Wanna take a look?" Brock asked intently.  
  
Ash blinked a bit before finally saying "Uhh..alright."  
  
"Sure." Misty said happily.  
  
* * *  
  
"W...w..wow..." Ash looked awed at how renewed the gym was.  
  
On the wall stood a giant scoreboard. Large speakers took up all the upper corners of the room, the gym had plenty of seating, the original dusty, somewhat rocky arena was replaced with a much sleeker one made of smooth, polished stone.  
  
"Impressive, huh?" Brock said smugly. "It cost an arm and a leg, but it was practically remade in every way, shape and form."  
  
"It shows.." Misty said in awe.  
  
Brock turned around to face his old friend.  
  
"So, how about a pokemon battle?" Brock took out his pokeball and bounced it gently up and down his hand.  
  
"Uhh.." Ash looked a bit shocked at being challenged so suddenly, he then came to his senses and took out a pokeball swiftly, "Alright, it's a battle!"  
  
"Alright then, take your position." Brock instructed Ash to the other side of the gym, Ash swore he could see his reflection in the sparkling stone.  
  
"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash almost instinctively took out the ball and tossed it to the arena where it cracked open, a bright red ray of light came out which quickly formed into a Pikachu.  
  
"Onix, go!" Brock tossed forth his own pokemon which formed the collosol stone serpent.  
  
"Now, we'll see how your pikachu has done since I've last seen it." Brock grinned.  
  
"Same with your Onix." Ash returned the verbal challenge.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
One.  
  
I sense you.  
  
Your current challenge is nothing.  
  
Compared to what lies ahead.  
  
* * *  
  
"Pikachu, thunder shock!" Ash ordered the little pokemon for his attack.  
  
"Say, how did you get Pikachu into a pokeball anyways?" Misty asked Ash.  
  
"Long story, it's not too important anyways, he runs around all he likes at home, but anywhere else, I just take him in a pokeball." Ash replied.  
  
Ash saw the long stream of electricity from the small creature rushing towards the giant serpentine creature...  
  
It never reached it's mark.  
  
The roof suddenly caved in, just missing the duellists and spectator in the arena. A figure in a long dark flowing cloak descended from the open spot where the roof once hanged. Ash wasn't sure if he was falling or if he was somehow floating down. Once he landed, he started a bizarre, rhythmic chant.  
  
"I am the one who is the enemy of the weak race you call the Light.  
  
I am the one who lurks in the darkest shadows of the night.  
  
I am the one who shall strike you down like a blade.  
  
I am the one who is called......Shade."  
  
He stood tall, around Ash's height, his face shrouded in the shadow of the cloak, the cloak was black and covered his entire body, black boots only furthering the idea that this being had far more in common with a demon than any mere human.  
  
"So you're the One. You don't look so great to me." Shade walked through the smoke and debris from the roof.  
  
"MY ROOF!!!!!!" Brock was nearly to tears seeing the debris of the roof which was part of the reconstruction that his gym went through. "You're goi..."  
  
Brock was cut off, "Silence, fool!" Shade said angrily.  
  
"So, what did you come here for...Shade, isn't it?" Ash asked calmly.  
  
"I came here as a messenger of a new era, or, in a matter that would be of more importance to you, to inform you of my presence. Your types must not be allowed to survive in this world." He turned to Brock and Misty, "That goes for you also, in case you were paying attention."  
  
"Y..you.." Ash was shivering in nervousness.  
  
"We will meet again, Ash Ketchum. I'm usually quite unmerciful, but I'll make an exception, seeing as I'd like a challenge for once." Shade lifted up his hand. "Prepare yourself, the times are changing." A large dark ball of energy grew from his hand which suddenly morphed into a small pillar which wrapped around Shade. When the pillar dissapeared, Shade was gone.  
  
"Well, I suppose that cancels this match." Brock said sarcastically as he returned his Onix. Ash followed suit.  
  
* * *  
  
"So, what are you going to do about your roof?" Misty asked Brock.  
  
"I think that first, I'm going to cry over it for a few months, then, I'm going to fix it."  
  
"Wouldn't it be better if you skip the crying phase, shell out some cash and pay someone to fix it?" Ash cut in very curtly.  
  
"Hmm..I suppose it'd be better doing just that."  
  
"Anyways, you can do that later, we gotta get a move on..." Ash, becoming impatient urged the people to move on.  
  
"RING! RING! RING! RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!" A phone machine started spouting out it's message, apparently having survived the cave-in, the phone machine came rolling towards Ash as the appliance picked up the phone for him and handed it him.  
  
The machine's video screen showed Professor Oak. He had a serious expression on his face.  
  
"Ash, Misty, Brock, it's imperative that you return to Pallet City at once."  
  
The Professor wasn't speaking with the kindly voice he voice, his voice was serious and for all intents and purposes, wasn't going to take any bullshit.  
  
"What's going on?" Ash asked in a tone.  
  
"It'd take too long to explain it here, just come to Pallet City right away."  
  
"Yes sir." The trio said simultaneously.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
The elderly professor explained the whole story, prophecies, Indigo National Guard being destroyed and all.  
  
"So, what's the Third Sign?" Misty asked.  
  
"The Third Sign...", Oak went to the bookshelf and took a large, dusty tome, he quietly flipped several pages, "Ah, the Third Sign: 'Time's river flows to divide the followers of Sun and the followers of Moon. The sands and the river of Time will be clogged with the blood of the fallen. The followers will use the aid of the ones bestowed upon their Leaders.'"  
  
Ash was rather confused, "So..that would mean what?"  
  
Oak looked down, "Do you remember the news reports of a 'Charizard' neutralized by the ING?'"  
  
"Yea.."  
  
"Well, that was no Charizard. It was one of a new breed of Pokemon. I had some photos of it faxed to me by Colonel Solomon of the ING." Oak handed the photos to Ash.  
  
"It doesn't look much like a Pokemon." Misty commented looking at how humanoid it was, only the rather abnormal proportions of it's head and body and a beautiful diamond shaped like an eight-pointed sun on it's forehead making it look like any sort of Pokemon.  
  
"Why would someone like the National Guard want this destroyed?" Brock wondered.  
  
"It was all a plot by the Colonel. He sent out one of his Captains, which of whom made his skeptisms explicit to the Colonel, to neutralize it. The ING suffered several casualties that day. While that was probably not the only NewType found, it's the only one I know of that has appeared." Oak answered quickly.  
  
"But, Professor, what's my role in all of this?" Ash asked Oak nervously but eagerly.  
  
Micheal Oak sighed quietly, "Well..do you remember seeing the Houou?" Oak looked at Ash, knowing he'd remember.  
  
"WHAT?! You saw the Houou?" Misty and Brock asked eagerly, wondering why he'd never told them before, but a glance from Oak put them in their places.  
  
"Well, you see..lemme read you a passage from the Book of Prophecies, the First Sign to be exact: '..And when the mighty Pheonix flies over the one who will overcome, thus it will be annoucing the arrival of the Light's Savior.'"  
  
"Savior?" Ash looked confused.  
  
"Yes, you see, in legend, or, as it has been proved now, in fact, the Houou flies only over saintly or holy people."  
  
"Ash, saintly.." Misty did a little mocking laugh.  
  
Ash agreed with Misty for once. Of course, he didn't state his agreement, for she would only take another shot. Ash knew that he had changed from the happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care boy of the past, to someone different, less open. He didn't socialize much with any trainer who challenged him in hopes of becoming the next Ash Ketchum, rather, they simply existed as people for him to challenge, and more often than not, be crushed along with their dreams.  
  
"Well, either way, Ash is our only hope in, as cliche as it sounds, saving the world." Oak said grimly.  
  
"Does the Book say anything about what my mission is?" Ash asked.  
  
"Of course. 'The Light's Savior shall unite the soldiers of Sun to overcome the Moon and the Darkness.'"  
  
"What's our role in this?" Misty asked, refering to herself and Brock.  
  
"You..have no prophecized role in this. You're allies of our Savior, nothing else. You might as well consider yourselves spectators in this whole damn event." Oak said bluntly in a deadly serious tone.  
  
"I am to suppose that these new Pokemon are the 'soldiers of Sun'?" Ask asked, quite well expecting his idea to be the correct one.  
  
"I believe so, but of course, there's also the 'soldiers of Moon'"  
  
"Do you have any additional information on these?"  
  
"Well..actually, I've working on something like that..." Oak took out a small chip, "Hand me your pokedex, Ash."  
  
Ash did as the Professor instructed.  
  
"This is a very peliminary pokedex upgrade. It has the barest idea of what each one of the NewType Pokemon are, it's all according to the Book of Prophecies." Oak said.  
  
"So, is there anyway we'd be able to get you new information?" Brock asked.  
  
"Yes, use the Pokecenters. Just send me any pokeball containing a NewType, I'll take all the genetic information from it, I'll quickly send it back to you while I do research on the information you sent me, getting more information about the Pokemon itself, it's abilities, etc."  
  
"Alright..I have a different question though." Misty asked with a curious expression on her face.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Where's Gary?" Misty realized his absence all this time.  
  
Oak sighed sadly, "He's dead. He jumped off a cliff and was killed instantly. The loss in the Pokemon League to Ash was too much for him to bear.", He looked to Ash, "Why didn't you tell your friends?"  
  
Ash was thrown off by the word 'friend' as well as the actual question itself "I..I didn't think it was that important, sir."  
  
"Professor, what about the apparent media reports that ING Headquarters was destroyed by a terrorist attack?" Brock stood like a soldier while asking Oak the question.  
  
"Under any other circumstance, I would believe it, but the NewTypes' arrival and knowing Solomon, it was definitely -not- a terrorist action. It was more likely an attack by a NewType." Oak said plainly.  
  
"So what exactly are our goals here?" Misty asked, brushing her long ponytail to one side.  
  
"I believe an overview is in order before I dismiss you, indeed. You and Brock are simply spectators, you have no prophecized goals here, simply assist Ash and don't hinder him. Ash's goal is to unite the prophecized 25 'soldiers of Sun', or for simpler reference, Light Pokemon to prevent the Apocalypse. I'm certain that there are a few things unprophecized.."  
  
"Like a Dark's Savior?" Ash interuptted quickly.  
  
"D..Dark's Savior? Where'd you see this??!"  
  
"Pewter City Gym, someone calling himself Shade."  
  
"I'm fairly certain this is the equivalent to your rival, Ash. The Dark's Savior possibly has a similar mission to yours, involving the other 25 prophecized 'soldiers of Moon', or Dark Pokemon as opposed to the Light." Oak responded with a studder in his voice.  
  
"I belive that I have told you everything you need, please contact me if you have any questions. You are dismissed."  
  
No sooner had the three left that Oak turned to the book once again, trying to find something on a Dark's Savior.  
  
"Let's see where it goes from here.." Oak thought out loud.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
"Guess Shade's not the only 'Messanger of a new era'" Ash said cockily as he and his companions stood outside in the center of Pallet City.  
  
"Shall we spend the night here?" Misty suggested.  
  
"I suppose." Ash said uncertainly, "My mom might not want any visitors." He tried thinking of something to keep them away from there, he didn't know why, he just didn't..want them there.  
  
"Well, let's check it out still!" Brock said eagerly.  
  
"Well...alright, let's go." Ash said with a nervous tone to his voice.  
  
* * *  
  
"My! How you're friends have grown Ash!" Ash's mother exclaimed very enthusiastically, "Care to reintroduce yourselves to me?"  
  
"I'm Misty, I'm now 17. Pleased to see you again." Misty did a little faux curtsy.  
  
"I'm Brock, I'm currently 18. How're you?" Brock bowed.  
  
"Do you wish to spend the night here?" Ms. Ketchum asked eagerly.  
  
"Yes, of course Ms. Ketchum." Brock said in his usual formal manner around women that were not Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy or anyone remotely his age, give or take a year.  
  
"Your rooms are over there." Ms. Ketchum pointed upstairs.  
  
* * *  
  
"My mom might not want any visitors" Misty said mockingly, "Yea, right!"  
  
The three were in the guest room, Ash was making the beds.  
  
"Cut me some slack, will ya?" Ash said while fluffing the pillows, sounding oddly like his old self.  
  
"Hmmph." Misty also sounded like her younger self as well and even looked like her old self for an instant, exception of course, being the incredibly long red ponytail and the sudden more conservative dress style.  
  
"Stop being so rough on Ash, Misty!" Brock acted out his old role as mediator, "It's been only two days and already you've gotten hard on the poor guy."  
  
Misty sighed, knowing him to be correct and calmed down.  
  
"Well, it's starting to get dark, I say we watch good old-fashioned TV and then get some rest, what do you say?" Brock suggested, sitting down upon the bed.  
  
"Sounds like a plan to me." Misty said contently.  
  
They turned on the TV in the guest room, there wasn't much on except for some old movies, the news and some re-runs of various old shows. Brock flipped the channel to an old movie, it was in faded color, probably dated sometime around the early 2040s. No one in the room was really paying attention to the movie.  
  
"I was wondering..." Ash looked up to the ceiling.  
  
"Hmm, what?" Brock looked toward Ash.  
  
"I was wondering about this whole 'Savior' deal."  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"What if I don't succeed? What if I let the whole world down?"  
  
"I'm sure you won't fail, isn't it prophecized that you'll overcome?"  
  
"I'm sure it is, but I always believe that destiny can change and prophecies can suddenly become nothing but stories."  
  
"You have to brighten up Ash, if you don't, your negative thoughts will probably prevail and you -will- fail everyone." Misty said urgently.  
  
"I suppose so.."  
  
"I think it's best if we get some sleep." Brock noted, seeing the clock read 11:00pm.  
  
* * *  
  
They had left the house after each eating a hearty breakfast, (and after Ash endured the 'Ketchum farewell ceremony' as he had come to call it: Being kissed and hugged and 'I love you'-ed to death until he could finally get out of the hold). Everyone was standing outside the gates of Pallet City.  
  
"Well, I suppose this is farewell to Pallet, once again." Ash said.  
  
"Yea, come on, let's go." Brock said.  
  
They were walking along, all in very good health, the sun was shining through the trees beautifully. The path was clear and uncluttered, the wind calm and caressing. The sky was only partially cloudy, the clouds themselves being white and puffy.  
  
* * *  
  
The threesome wasn't too far along the path when they heard a rustling in the bushes.  
  
"What's that?" Ash looked to his side, quickly taking out his Pokedex.  
  
"Not a valid Pokemon." The Pokedex said in it's droning voice.  
  
"Huh?" Ash looked on as the bushes rustled even more as a girl popped out of the bushes.  
  
"Hmm..odd, I don't think that's any kind of Pokemon." Misty looked at Ash grining slyly.  
  
The girl was young. She was dressed in white trousers, a grey shirt and a blue denim jacket, she also wore a small wooden cross on her chest. Her eyes were red and her long hair dark blue currently very ruffled and tossed up, but no doubt very flowing when combed properly. Her body was fairly attractive, slim, but not a twig.  
  
"Sorry for confusing you, but.." The girl began, her voice was clear and soft before Ash cut her off.  
  
"First off, what's your name? Secondly, why were you in the bushes?" Ash said in a somewhat demanding tone.  
  
The girl was thrown off by his quickness to interupt but answered politely, "My name is Arisa Tanaka. I was in the bushes because..I was following you for some time."  
  
"Following us?" Misty said.  
  
"Yes, I've been following you since you left the gates of Pallet City." Arisa took out a comb out of her pocket and started straightening her hair.  
  
"...Why?" Brock looked at the girl, no doubt captivated by her.  
  
"I don't know, I'm a wanderer. I just go wherever and follow whomever I feel like." She said in a light and airy tone.  
  
"Well, you can follow me any...*oof!*" Brock was elbowed decisively by Misty.  
  
Arisa giggled politely, "I think I'll do just that. As for your offer...Brock isn't it? I'm sorry, but I decline your offer," She answered Brock's unasked question, "maybe you can try again sometime." She closed her eyes and smiled politely.  
  
"Well then, so you want to join us, Arisa?" Ash asked.  
  
"Hmm..I think I shall." Arisa looked at Ash, then at Brock and finally at Misty.  
  
"Are these guys alright?" Arisa whispered to Misty.  
  
"It depends on your tastes." Misty whispered back.  
  
"Oh I see." Arisa winked at Misty and then looked back at the others.  
  
"Well, shall we get going to...?"  
  
"Pewter City." Ash answered quickly.  
  
"Strange girl." Ash whispered to Brock.  
  
"She can be as strange as she wants to be." Brock said in his dazed voice.  
  
Thus, Arisa Tanaka, a simple wanderer among the woods, joined Ash and his group. Ash didn't know what to think of her.  
  
'She seems like a nice enough girl..but just how does she know?' Ash thought to himself.  
  
* * *  
  
Go forth Savior.  
  
Your current destiny has been decided.  
  
That you could not change.  
  
But the end of the journey.  
  
Where you stand will be decided by you.  
  
If you stand at all.  
  
  
  
To be continued... 


	4. Times

Of Light and Darkness  
  
Scenario 2: Revival  
  
Chapter 4: Times  
  
  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"You run, you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking..."  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
  
  
  
  
Day.  
  
Days coming, only to go.  
  
Days going, what did you do with it?  
  
Wasted days, do you remember what happened?  
  
Forgotten days, did you even care if something happened?  
  
Ignored days, what about when the next day doesn't come anymore?  
  
Final day...  
  
  
  
Blue. A field of endless blue, with white springs. He stood on this field, sitting in one of the springs. It was soft to his skin..so very soft. He looked out to the whole plane of blue, captivated by it's beauty. He got out of the spring and started walking on the blue. He kicked at the blue ground to reveal some green and brown. He was also captivated by it's beauty, but He still prefered the blue, glad to be on it and not on the green below...  
  
  
  
==================  
  
S c e n a r i o  
  
Chapter 4 - Times  
  
R e v i v a l  
  
==================  
  
  
  
Ash opened his eyes. He saw the blue sky above, feeling somehow depressed. He looked to his side and saw the green grass below as well as his new, re-found allies: Misty Waterflower, Brock Shale, and, the newcomer to the party: Arisa Tanaka, all were still sleeping peacefully in their own sleeping bags, except for Arisa, who was sharing a bag with Misty. Ash looked at Arisa.  
  
'Lovely...' He thought, looking at the calm face with a happy, serene smile even in her slumber, and the long, currently tangled blue hair. His thoughts drifted to yesterday....  
  
* * *  
  
.... It had been a late afternoon when Ash, Misty and Brock decided to ask Arisa questions about herself.  
  
"Where are your parents?" Ash had asked her, wondering why this girl became a wanderer.  
  
"They're..dead I suppose." Arisa looked down and sighed, "I'm an orphan, the people at the orphanage told me that my mother had died giving birth to me, when I was old enough to ask the question and understand it, of course. I could've stayed at the orphanage until I was 18, but I decided not to, I don't know why, something told me I shouldn't."  
  
"How old are you then?" Brock had asked quickly.  
  
"I'm 16 years old." The answer had clearly surprised Brock.  
  
'Strange, would've thought her to be 19.' Ash remembered having had thought that.  
  
"What about that?" Misty had asked with great curiousity about the wooden cross around Arisa's neck. "I remember seeing it in history books."  
  
"Oh, this.. this is something that belonged to my mother apparently, the orphanage workers told me that at least. Of course, this is from the dead religion of Christianity. The orphanage people told me of their surprise that my mother was a Christian, especially considering that many ideals of it aren't in practice anymore, even though so many of the modern religions are based off principles in the ancient texts of it, but anyways, I'm wasting breath saying stuff that you probably know already. I simply wear this to keep some form of remembering the mother I never knew, I suppose."  
  
"Do you have any Pokemon?" Ash had asked eagerly.  
  
"Yes, I do. Just one really, but it's enough to get me through the day." Arisa took out her pokeball and pressed the button for the usual red blob of energy forming into a large pokemon.  
  
"Scyther!" The large green insect that looked like the result of a marriage between the Grim Reaper and a praying mantis, which was quickly shot with a beam of red and returned to it's confines.  
  
"How do you earn money?" Misty asked.  
  
"I simply do various odd jobs at pokecenters, restaurants, and other places in exchange for a free night's stay, or free food. That sort of thing."  
  
* * *  
  
... And so the questioning had continued, nothing else asked was really of much value or importance to really even bother remembering. Ash looked up to the sky again, noting how it was still early, despite the sky's blueness and returned to sleep with surprising success.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, the National Guard finally is out of way."  
  
"Wonder who did it, the reports all say a terrorist attack."  
  
"Hmm... they must be pretty powerful to have been able to fry a big fish like the ING."  
  
The Team Rocket Headquarters' boardroom was full of the most powerful and influencial people in Team Rocket. Everyone there was fairly relieved that ING was destroyed, but they were also worried about the things this might be foreshadowing, such as a new crime organization being established, more powerful than anything that TR would be able to imagine.  
  
"Should we try to get everything in place to control more now that we've got ING out of the way?" A man, named Trevor McKannon, asked Giovanni, who was sitting at the north edge of the desk.  
  
"No. While ING is out of the way, and the police didn't pose much treat to us in the first place, it's best if we lay low. It's possible that this new organization could leave us alone if we don't do much, if it does indeed exist. Besides, we've already got control of a good portion of this goddamn region. We've got a gym established in Viridian, our longtime Pokemon stealing operations world-wide, several renewed projects on Mount Moon, and an illegal drug trade in the Orange Islands. We've got scientists researching genetic structures of several different Pokemon, as well as the eggheads developing new weapons, believe me, when and if they make their next move, if the little fuckers even exist, we'll be ready for them." Giovanni answered very confidently.  
  
"But, sir, if we've already had all these damned weapons with us, then why didn't we just torch the ING ourselves?" A different person asked with a raised voice.  
  
"You don't get it, do you? If we torched ING, we would've called way more attention to ourselves than we would want. The ING didn't do too much to us, sure they've come more than once, but they rarely do jack-shit." Trevor decided to answer for his leader. While Giovanni agreed whole-heartedly to Trevor's opinion, nonetheless he spoke out of turn, Giovanni thought of punishing Trevor afterwards, but decided not to for it would simply waste time better spent on other things.  
  
* * *  
  
Sin.  
  
I sense so much of it in here.  
  
It must not be allowed to remain here.  
  
They shall no doubt interfere.  
  
I won't let them interfere.  
  
Sinners deserve no apologies.  
  
* * *  
  
"Anyways, furthermore..." Giovanni was cut off by a soft song followed slight rumbling.  
  
"Niiiiii tannn, tannn niiiiii, niiiii tannn, tannn niiii." The song played on sweetly.  
  
'It ends...' The thought transferred to everyone within the headquarters, the song continued as the ceiling of the boardroom caved in the center, somehow not taking any lives with it's descent.  
  
"What the hell!?" Giovanni looked up surprised to see his roof replaced by the sky so far up above.  
  
A fire suddenly engulfed the TR HQ as the song was still being sung. The whole building was being swallowed by flames within minutes. People were running and screaming loudly as their flesh was being eaten away by the fire. When Trevor successfully jumped out of an open window, others attempted to follow this example with varying degrees of success.  
  
'Sinners deserve no apologies.' Giovanni's mind was filled by this thought repeatedly, along with everyone else who wasn't already a charred skeleton on the ground.  
  
Several more people where rolling on the ground, trying to put out their flames, but it was of no use. Giovanni's suit had long caught on fire, he didn't...couldn't scream despite feeling intense pain from the heat. He just looked up, at the blue sky so far up above...  
  
* * *  
  
"Hmm, we're not too far from Viridian City now." Ash stated simply.  
  
The group was still walking through the peaceful path. Arisa was next to Misty who was next to Ash, with Brock taking not-so-subtle glances at Arisa from Ash's side. Ash looked up at the sky, somehow feeling close, yet so far away.  
  
"So, how long have you three known each other?" Arisa shot an eye towards Ash.  
  
Ash was thrown off by the question.  
  
'Really, how long would I consider myself to have known these people? These strangers from a life so long-past yet from a future so close...' Ash was debating the nature of this when Brock gladly answered.  
  
"We've known each other for about six years." He said.  
  
'Six years. He's correct I suppose, it's been 6 years since we first met, but it's only been three years he's truly known me.'  
  
"Ahh." Arisa smiled and whispered to Misty, "So, are you two..?"  
  
"Of course not!" Misty said out loud with her head up in the air and her eyes closed.  
  
"Ahh, interesting..." Arisa winked and smiled even wider.  
  
* * *  
  
The party had finally arrived at Viridian City early afternoon, possibly sometime after 2 p.m. Ash quickly let his pikachu out of it's confines.  
  
"Oooh! What a cute pikachu!" Arisa chimed excitedly.  
  
"Pika!" The yellow rodent exclaimed happily.  
  
'I sense..something different.' Arisa thought to herself looking past the pokemon and at the city.  
  
"Well, come on! We might as well stick around here for the night." Misty said cheerfully.  
  
* * *  
  
Misty and Arisa went off together, doing some shopping apparently. Brock went do his usual thing of trying to woo anything in a dress that was young and attractive. Ash simply wandered about the city, just thinking to himself quietly.  
  
'Savior...from Darkness...' This thought kept coming back in his mind.  
  
'And Shade..the Dark Savior.. he wasn't even prophicized...'  
  
Suddenly, Ash felt something cold and sharp up against his back.  
  
"You can turn around, Savior." A voice said behind him as he felt whatever it was against his back go away. Ash did as the voice suggested.  
  
"I'm sure you can recognize me." The voice's orgin was a cloaked figure, standing at Ash's height. Even at this close, Ash couldn't see his face, but knew immediately who he was.  
  
"What the hell are you here for?" Ash faced the cloaked one.  
  
"I'm just dropping by, I like giving my prey some time to get started." Shade said with a small chuckle.  
  
"You know you can kill me now."  
  
"Why? It's against the Prophecies.." Shade chuckled again after saying this, "Don't tell me you don't want to see the new era come, you're the Savior, it's your job and role to stick around a little longer."  
  
"You're up to something else."  
  
"Perhaps I am, don't worry Savior, next time we meet, you'll get the action which you seem to be craving." Shade gave a little bow and simply walked away.  
  
"I was expecting greater tricks from you." Ash yelled out.  
  
"All in good time.." Ash heard, even though he couldn't see Shade anymore.  
  
"Is he alright?" A voice said behind Ash  
  
"What a psycho."  
  
"I hope he'll find a good shrink."  
  
Ash looked around himself, wondering why they were saying this. He quickly came to the conclusion that Shade had somehow made himself visible only to him and no one else.  
  
"Oh great, now everyone including me thinks I'm a nutball." Ash decided to find Misty and Arisa.  
  
* * *  
  
"Here! How do ya think this looks on me?" Arisa placed a somewhat revealing V-neck white shirt over her chest.  
  
"Oh! That looks lovely!" Misty wasn't much of a judge of clothing before, maybe only occassionally letting her truly feminine side get the best of her, but that was then, this is now. Her sisters got her into the whole fashion act while staying put at Cerulean City, though she was not as obsessively into it as them.  
  
"Hmm, what do you think of this Arisa?" Misty placed a sky blue dress over herself.  
  
"Ooh, how pretty!"  
  
This little exchange of clothing continued on, neither one of them really knowing what they would buy, especially since they didn't have too much money, $350 each, which might sound like quite a bit, but considering that the prices for the clothing here were about $100 at the least...  
  
"How well do you know Ash?" Arisa asked Misty very suddenly.  
  
"Pretty well, though I haven't seen him in about three or four years.."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I dunno, I was just so occupied with battling trainers wanting my the Cascade Badge at the gym..why do you ask anyways?"  
  
Arisa looked down and shook her head, "Nothing. It's nothing."  
  
Misty looked at Arisa oddly and just shrugged it off.  
  
'Could that be why I sensed such sadness in him..?' Arisa thought to herself.  
  
Before Arisa could think about this for much longer, Ash walked into the store and confronted Misty and Arisa.  
  
"Found anything?" Ash asked in decidingly more playful tone.  
  
* * *  
  
Arisa was now clad in the white V-neck she was posing in just minutes before as well as some rather tight-fitting light-blue denim shorts, shockingly looking not unlike a younger, blue-haired Misty. Misty herself was wearing a blue one-piece dress with a rather oceanic theme which reached down to just above Misty's knee, which Misty thought looked better and had a cheaper price tag than the other one she was posing for earlier. Ash was clad in the same dark blue denim jacket, white shirt and black jeans which he had been wearing all this way and would need a washing soon.  
  
They didn't have to go too far to find Brock, who was being his usual self, flirting and trying to get any pretty girl that passed his way. As soon as they (or to be precise, Ash) got him back to his senses, he was more than willing to continue on. Brock also took a chance to compliment Arisa on her lovliness once again, of course.  
  
* * *  
  
Several men were wandering around the island, wondering what to do with their current situation. They looked down upon the ocean, the jagged rocks below certainly appeared as an appealing option...  
  
* * *  
  
Sinners.  
  
They still survive.  
  
Best to leave them now.  
  
For they are weakened.  
  
* * *  
  
A figure was observing the men on the island...  
  
* * *  
  
Black hearted men.  
  
Those whom even the rats refuse to walk amongst.  
  
These will become useful.  
  
They are weak now.  
  
But soon...  
  
* * *  
  
"G'night Arisa"  
  
"Sweet dreams Brock."  
  
"Goodnight Ash."  
  
"Night Misty."  
  
* * *  
  
She was wandering in the forest. She was gasping at the beauty of the leaves as the trees shed them to go to their long rest. She wandered more along the nice, clean passage until she reached a cliffside. There was a large ocean below the cliff and right ahead of it was another cliffside. There was a figure standing at the other cliff's edge, She couldn't quite see who it was, but She felt somehow...attracted..to this figure whom appeared to her as merely as a sihlouette. She took a few steps back and suddenly started running and jumped towards the other cliff, She just had to try. As She started pulmetting towards the jagged rocks She felt something lift her up, She didn't even know what it was, she looked behind her to see that She somehow had massive, white, feathery wings that had grown out of her back. She didn't ponder this and just kept flying towards this figure, it wasn't so far now....She thought She could start to make out some of the figures features...  
  
* * *  
  
*CRASH*  
  
Everyone woke up simultaneously in the room at the Inn, tired but alert. Ash checked the time briefly: 3:33am. Everyone looked outside the window and took immediate notice at banners that had a black circle with an upside down red triangle in the center. They also saw several men clad in black with red hoods. A bat-winged being was floating above the men, it had a black-scaled head of a serpent, two long legs covered with only pink skin but having bird-like talons as it's feet, it's arms were each feathered ending in large cat-like paws, finally, a long twitching tail much like that of cat only covered with scales and ending with a lethal-looking stinger.  
  
"Mirache...Mirache...Mirache..." The creature droned on.  
  
"We follow the path of Chaos/ Order leads to nowhere/ Truth is the path of hurt/ In a world of Darkness/ There is no need for a Light." The apparent followers slowly chanted beneath the horrific beast.  
  
Ash was looking down upon all of this.  
  
"Let's go." He said as he quickly left, seeing as he was already doning his clothing.  
  
* * *  
  
Arisa met up with Ash some time after he left (Mostly due to the issue of putting on proper clothes and convincing the others to stay at the inn). Ash was trying to keep himself from being seen by the followers and the new creature itself. Ash decided to bring his pokedex to good use.  
  
A beep followed soon and soon came up with a brief file, "Mirache, a Dark pokemon. According to Prophecy, it is capable of breathing fire and has a deadly vemon in it's tail which not lethal, but paralyzes it's victim.", Ash quickly closed the pokedex as he took out a pokeball.  
  
"Maybe my scyther might be of some assistance?" Arisa offered.  
  
"Sure." Ash pressed the button on his pokeball, a red beam shot out and brought out a tired, but able, yellow rat. Arisa followed suite and a more battle-ready bladed insect came out.  
  
* * *  
  
The city was falling apart, windows being crashed, several buildings burning. The screams of people echoed throughout the city, never being quite sure if it was just the terror of it all or if people were truly dying. The latter was well confirmed when the Mirache crashed into a building, flying back out with a woman, it showed no mercy as it broke the woman's back, flew up high with the woman and let her fall to the earth with a sickening thud. The followers of the Dark also burned the woman's body, distorting it horrifically as it was scorching her flesh.  
  
* * *  
  
Ash was having trouble keeping himself from vomiting. Arisa was exhibiting similar problems also. The scyther viewed this as another battle, but even Pikachu knew something bigger was admist.  
  
"This is just sick..." Ash said disgustingly.  
  
"This is war.." Arisa said disheartenly.  
  
* * *  
  
Someone was watching all of this from above. Looking down upon everything. Someone knew that they could stop this. Someone quickly jumped down from their perch.  
  
* * *  
  
Ash and Arisa were about to move closer to the Mirache when they were stopped by a tall girl in a red vest. Her face was thin, as was her figure. She was also clad in white aside from the vest, which contrasted her short black hair. Her eyes were a light grey. She was also holding a sharp white stone in her hand.  
  
"Who are you?" Ash asked of the girl.  
  
The girl said nothing and simply threw the stone at Pikachu. It went straight through him, the mouse screaming loudly.  
  
"Pikachu!" Ash tried touching it, but was immediately burnt by the heat as a bright white aura started surrounding the mouse. It was blinding. When Ash could see again, he no longer saw the yellow electric rat he knew and loved, but rather a more streamlined, white rodent with a long, whip-like tail that even made a quick trail of light behind it.  
  
"Pi...ka...lus." The creature said in a slightly more mature voice.  
  
The girl looked at Ash and smiled slightly. She also approached Arisa, put her hand on Arisa's forehead and shortly let go. She then turned and bowed to both of them, jumped up and was unseen.  
  
"I guess we now have a Light pokemon" Arisa looked at the new little creature.  
  
Ash decided to be bold and throw a rock at the Mirache to get it's attention. Predictably enough, the beast came roaring down, diving straight towards Ash. Arisa quickly jumped in the path of the beast but was quickly tossed aside, not by the beast, but by Ash.  
  
"He wants *me* dammit!" Ash closed his eyes, turned his head to the side and streched his arms out.  
  
The beast was almost to reach the boy. However, it suddenly collapsed. Arisa quickly kicked the monster, noting how stiff it was.  
  
"What the heck did you do?!" Arisa looked towards Ash, clearly impressed.  
  
"I...I don't know..." Ash looked in awe at what he alledgedly did, then took out a pokeball and captured it for Oak's research.  
  
'He doesn't seem as sad anymore...' Arisa thought as she retrieved her scyther.  
  
* * *  
  
Shade was looking from above, looking down at Ash and the now- deceased Mirache. He quickly pondered the implications and possibilities of this.  
  
"Savior..the Light..capable of killing a Mirache?! I wonder what could be the cause of this....he must be weakened, his power is much too strong, he's can't quite control it yet..but I can't risk that happening." He looked down once again at Ash's confident smile.  
  
"The Savior must be weakened."  
  
  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
